I recall back in 1975/6 receiving a batch of 45’s on the Chelsea label from then London record plugger Darryl Redfern. The first of those singles was the superb ‘Be Thankful For What You’ve Got’ by the unknown  William De Vaughn together with ‘Highwire’ by Linda Carr and the Love Squad. The pleasant purple label design demanded closer inspection and once on the turntable (remember them) I was hooked on both tunes, and still are to this day.

‘Highwire’ found fame and fortune as a modern soul tune on the northern soul tune with it’s sixties Motown styled production which made it very attractive to the northern soul fraternity, whereas, the London soul collectors quickly picked up on De Vaughn’s smooth soul single resulting in it’s popularity gaining mass radio exposure across the capital eventually spreading to urban areas across the UK. The follow up single ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ was equally well received no doubt due to the fact that it sounded so similar.

EMI decided to re-issue a remixed version of ‘Thankful’ in the eighties but it failed to make any impact with soul fans who appeared to prefer the original. The album that followed is currently available via Sanctuary Records.

During this period the term ‘disco’ was becoming a household name and Chelsea were determined not to be left out delivering some very nice 45’s especially ‘Swing Your Daddy’ from Jim Gilstrap, which whilst not being in the usual uptempo groove, delivers a gentle mid tempo groove just oozing with commercial appeal, and generated a top 10 hit that year.

New York City had a superb Philly styled song at that time with ‘I’m Doing Fine’ and it’s inclusion on this CD must conjure up thoughts of the style that took the Detroit Spinners to commercial fame during their early stint with Atlantic records during the mid seventies. The company were quick to follow with another release in ‘Quick Fast, In A Hurry’ which again saw some chart action.

As disco took the night-clubs by storm Chelsea were in there amongst the best and the novelty styled Disco Tex & his SexOlettes made an impact on the UK charts with two notable songs in ‘Get Dancin’ and ‘I Want To Dance Wit Choo’ both of which were recorded around the dance craze of that era The Bump. Tex faded into obscurity before finding some additional fame starring in the 1978 film Saturday Night Fever as the club DJ.

However, not all of the tracks recorded for Chelsea were dance orientated and it is easy to categorise the label as ‘disco’ but in reality there were a number of pop acts who recorded songs including Lulu who had enjoyed success as a pop artist almost ten years earlier. Two notable hits for Chelsea are featured here with ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ and ‘Take Your Mamma For A Ride’

Bobby Sheen who had previously recorded  for Capitol and Warner Brothers gets a look in with the pleasant ‘Love Stealing’ demonstrating his ability to deliver both the ballads as well as uptempo material.

Other less well known artists on the label were Stuff & Ramjet and Fessor Funk but to name a couple. The Chelsea label may well have sank into obscurity but a selection of the labels output will never be far from a credible dance floor and ‘gold’ radio station where the hits still get played to an ever eager audience who thrive on a diet of seventies classics.

Let’s be fair, it’s great to reminisce

Rating 7/10

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